Support material is hard to remove
Hi,
I always try to not use support material if possible, on my previous Anet A8 printer with and old version of some slicer I had no issue removing support material. I just knew that it wouldn't look great where it had been, most of it or all of it came off easily.
But with my Core One I have some issues with the default settings, it's hard to remove.
In the image below I printed some wheels for a Husqvarna Automower and it was the worst yet. To the left is the normal 0.4 nozzle and I thought that was hard to remove, using pliers etc. Then I got to the one on the right, that's printed with default settings using a 0.8 nozzle and I basically couldn't remove it. I used knives, pliers and even a chisel. It's hard to tell where the support material ends and where the model starts. This goes for both the examples, but the 0.8 was almost impossible. I'm sure I removed more than support here and there.
Just wondering if anyone else have this problem and what settings you recommend? Thanks!
RE: Support material is hard to remove
You do not specify what layer height you use, nor the material.
When moving from a standard 0.4mm nozzle to a 0.8mm nozzle, layer heights and extrusion widths increase significantly. If you keep the default support settings, the thick extruded lines will fuse heavily with the model, making organic supports incredibly difficult to remove.
For a 0.8mm nozzle in PrusaSlicer, the recommended Top Z distance (interface separation) ranges from 0.28mm to 0.44mm, heavily depending on your layer height.
Recommended Z Distance by Layer Height:
The golden rule for large nozzles is that your Top Z distance should be equal to or slightly greater than your layer height. This ensures the extruded plastic cools just enough before resting on the support, preventing strong adhesion.
Key PrusaSlicer Settings for Organic Supports (0.8mm Nozzle)
Because a 0.8mm nozzle outputs a massive amount of plastic, organic trees can become incredibly thick and rigid. To keep them stable yet easy to snap off, switch your settings to Advanced or Expert mode in PrusaSlicer and fine-tune these parameters:
Top contact Z distance: (Found under Print Settings > Support material) Set this based on the table above (e.g., 0.32 for a 0.30mm layer height).
Style: Set to Organic.
Support interface layers: Increase this to 2 or 3 layers. With thick extrusion widths, you need a solid, dense bed of interface loops so the actual model lines don't sag into the organic branches.
Support interface pattern spacing: Reduce this to 0.2mm or 0.3mm. This creates a tight, nearly solid "mat" for your model to rest on, drastically improving the bottom surface quality.
Extrusion width > Support material: (Found under Print Settings > Advanced) By default, PrusaSlicer might push this up to 0.75mm or 0.8mm. Dropping it slightly to 0.65mm or 0.70mm keeps the organic branches lightweight and easier to break away, without sacrificing structural stability.
💡 Material Tip: If you are printing with PETG (which loves to stick to itself), lean toward the upper limit of the Z distance (e.g., 0.40mm separation for a 0.40mm layer height). If you are using PLA, which cools much faster and is less sticky, setting the Z distance exactly equal to your layer height (e.g., 0.30mm for a 0.30mm layer) will yield a significantly cleaner surface finish.
RE:
Yeah sorry, I forgot. In this specific instance I used a sort of generic PLA from a local store, it's worked great before but I rarely use it now. So I kind of wanted to get rid of some. I used the "Generic PLA" profile for that. Though otherwise I mostly use Esun PLA now and I've found the support material to be hard to remove there too.
The 0.4mm nozzle print was printed at 0.2mm layer height and the 0.8mm nozzle was printed at 0.4mm layer height.
I see that when i change between the different profiles for different size nozzles/layer height, the settings like "top contact Z distance" changes on all of them. For example 0.8 nozzle and 0.4 height is 0.25 "top contact Z distance". I thought that it's tested and should work. I guess it is, but maybe my material plays a role as well.
But thank you very much for the detailed reply, I'll have to try some different settings and see what results I get!
RE: Support material is hard to remove
I also always try to avoid support material whenever possible.
Sometimes, however, it's unavoidable.
If the interface layer is on a horizontal plane, I use the Sharpie/Texta method.
Basically, you place a print pause after the top support layer, paint the surface with a felt-tip pen (Sharpie / Texta), and continue printing.
With this method, you can set the contact Z distance to "0" and also set the "interface pattern spacing" to "0 mm".
I confess, I found this method somewhere on Youtube and it works.